丑八怪 (chǒubāguài): n. an extremely ugly person/someone whose conduct is not good
In class, the teacher told the students that “丑八怪 (chǒubāguài)” refers to extremely ugly people. A confused student asked the teacher, “Why don’t we use the number 9? Why can’t we say “丑九怪 (chǒujiǔguài)?”
The teacher smiled and explained to the student, “We should start with ‘扬州八怪 (Yángzhōu Bā Guài).’ ‘扬州八怪 (Yángzhōu Bā Guài)’ refers to a group of people who had similar interests and painting styles. They include: 李蟮 (Lǐ Shàn), 汪士慎 (Wāng Shìshèn), 高翔 (Gāo Xiáng) and so on. (Note: In Chinese, the number “8” is a function word used to represent large amounts of something; it doesn’t always literally mean eight.) These painters’ painting philosophy was to ‘weed through the old and bring forth the new.’ They did things in their own way without regarding other’s criticism. They were disregarded by the so-called “orthodox school” at that time. ‘丑八怪 (chǒubāguài)’ means that they were freaks. Even though the orthodox painters and upper-class society shunned them, common people loved their paintings very much. Because of their popularity with common people, they became very famous. The phrase ‘丑八怪 (chǒubāguài)’ has been around ever since. Now people usually use it to describe someone whose conduct is not good.”
丑八怪 (chǒubāguài): n. extremely ugly person/someone whose conduct is not good
Example:
Tā kě bú huì xǐhuan yí gè chǒubāguài.
他 可 不 会 喜欢 一个 丑八怪。
He won’t like an ugly girl who is not kind.
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